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 1997-11

Levy v. Beare ( 1997 )


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  • UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
JULIUS LEVY,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
No. 97-1080
ALEXA BEARE, Baltimore County
Police Officer,
Defendant-Appellee.
JULIUS LEVY,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
No. 97-1110
WALTER HETTINGER, Dr.; LEROY C.
BELL, JR., Dr.; DEBRA HOLLAND,
Registered Nurse,
Defendants-Appellees.
Appeals from the United States District Court
for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore.
William M. Nickerson, District Judge.
(CA-96-1948-WMN, CA-96-2117-WMN)
Submitted: July 29, 1997
Decided: November 5, 1997
Before HALL and WILKINS, Circuit Judges, and PHILLIPS,
Senior Circuit Judge.
_________________________________________________________________
No. 97-1080 affirmed and No. 97-1110 vacated and remanded by
unpublished per curiam opinion.
COUNSEL
Julius Levy, Appellant Pro Se. Michael Allan Fry, Assistant Solicitor,
Towson, Maryland; Ronald Upton Shaw, SHAW & BROWN, P.A.,
Towson, Maryland; Mary Alane Downs, MASON, KETTERMAN &
MORGAN, Hunt Valley, Maryland; Barbara Lee Ayres, WHITE-
FORD, TAYLOR & PRESTON, Towson, Maryland, for Appellees.
_________________________________________________________________
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See
Local Rule 36(c).
_________________________________________________________________
OPINION
PER CURIAM:
In these consolidated cases, Julius Levy appeals from district court
orders dismissing his actions filed against a police officer and several
health care providers for allegedly violating his civil rights in connec-
tion with his involuntary commitment to a mental hospital. We have
reviewed the record in appeal number 97-1080 and the district court's
opinion and find no reversible error. Accordingly, we affirm that
order on the reasoning of the district court. Levy v. Beare, No. CA-96-
1948-WMN (D. Md. Dec. 23, 1996).
We vacate, however, the district court's order relating to appeal
number 97-1110, and remand for further consideration. The court dis-
missed Levy's action against the Defendant health care providers
based on its conclusion that the action was subject to the mandatory
arbitration provisions of the Maryland Health Care Malpractice
Claims Act,
    Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. §§ 3
    -2A-01 to -09
(1995 & Supp. 1996). Those provisions, however, cannot defeat a
federally created cause of action unless the federal law allegedly vio-
lated expressly or implicitly incorporates the provisions. See Brooks
v. Maryland Gen. Hosp., Inc.,
    996 F.2d 708
    , 710, 714 (4th Cir. 1993).
In this case, Levy appears to seek redress under
    42 U.S.C. § 1983
    (1994). Section 1983 does not require litigants, other than prisoners,
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to exhaust state remedies prior to bringing an action in federal court.
See Patsy v. Board of Regents,
    457 U.S. 496
    , 500-01, 509 (1982).
Thus, a litigant seeking damages under § 1983 based on his involun-
tary commitment to a mental hospital need not exhaust state remedies
under a state medical malpractice statute prior to filing suit in federal
court. See Herer v. Burns,
    577 F. Supp. 762
    , 765 (W.D. Va. 1984)
(allowing relatives of patient involuntarily committed to Virginia hos-
pital to file § 1983 action in federal court without exhausting reme-
dies provided by Virginia Medical Malpractice Act).
Accordingly, the order of the district court in appeal number 97-
1110 is vacated, and the case is remanded for further proceedings. We
express no opinion concerning any other defenses that may be avail-
able to the Defendants in appeal number 97-1110. We dispense with
oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately
presented in the materials before the court and argument would not
aid the decisional process.
No. 97-1080 - AFFIRMED
No. 97-1110 - VACATED AND REMANDED
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